In Need
by Irrelevant86
Summary: While working on their beat Ponch and Jon find a girl wandering on the side of the highway. She's injured and doesn't speak at all. The only person she seems to respond to is Ponch. Can our favorite CHP officers help her?


_**AN: Okay so this is my first CHiPs story so don't hate it too much! I recently got into this show because of my mom, and despite being part of the Police Explorers program I don't exactly know all of the police codes and stuff like that so if I make a mistake just let me know, but please be nice about it! Hope you like it!**_

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_**In need**_

_Chapter one_

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Two CHP officers sat on their motorcycles on a highway that was closed for construction, which sat above another highway with cars speeding down it. As they watched the highway below them they noticed a girl walking down the side of the highway. She seemed to be stumbling slightly as she walked and cars had to keep swerving out of their lanes when she would stumble in their way. The two officers exchanged looks and started up their motorcycles. They raced down the highway, sirens blaring. When they reached the girl one officer pulled his motorcycle up in front of the girl while the other parked behind her, both officers getting off their bikes at the same time.

On closer inspection they noticed she couldn't be older than 9, she was wearing a heavy leather jacket that had a hole in it, her long brown hair was messy, her baby blue eyes seemed to be glazed over, and she was extremely pale. She swayed on her feet and stumbled slightly. The officer in front of her reached out to steady her, giving her a worried look.

"Miss are you all right?" He asked.

She barely even glanced up at him before her eyes rolled back into her head and she passed out. The officer managed to catch her before she hit her head on the ground.

"Jon call for an ambulance," The officer who'd caught her exclaimed.

As Jon called for an ambulance the other officer looked the girl over. He noticed a large red stain on the white shirt she was wearing underneath her jacket. He moved the jacket aside and stared in horror at what he found underneath.

"Oh my god!" He breathed. Jon looked back at his partner.

"What is it Ponch?" Jon asked.

"She's been shot," Ponch stated, glancing up at his partner.

Jon raced over to the girl and glanced down at the large wound on her stomach which was bleeding profusely. Both officers shared a horrified look before Ponch reached down and placed his hands over the wound, applying pressure in an effort to stop the bleeding. Both officers could hear the sound of sirens approaching. Within a few minutes an ambulance had pulled up and paramedics rushed over to the two officers. The paramedics pushed the two CHP officers out of the way. As the paramedics got the girl into the ambulance another police officer pulled up on a motorcycle next to Ponch and Jon.

"What happened?" Sergeant Getraer asked, getting off his motorcycle.

"We're not sure. We saw her stumbling down the highway, and when we stopped her she just passed out. That's when we noticed she'd been shot," Ponch explained, glancing down at his blood covered hands.

"All right, follow the ambulance to the hospital. Hopefully when she wakes up she can tell you what happened," Getraer ordered. The two officers nodded their heads, and got on their motorcycles. The ambulance took off down the highway with the two officer's right behind it…

_**Several hours later**_

It had been several hours since Jon and Ponch arrived at the hospital, and they still hadn't heard anything about the girl they'd found. Ponch was pacing in the waiting room, while Jon was sitting in one of the chairs trying not to pay attention to his partner. After a few more minutes Jon sighed in irritation.

"Ponch you're going to wear a hole in the floor, would you please sit down!" Jon exclaimed, glancing up at his partner. Ponch looked over at Jon and sighed.

"Sorry. It's just been so long and we still haven't heard anything about the girl," Ponch replied. Suddenly a doctor walked into the waiting room and glanced over at the two officers.

"You two the ones who found the girl with the gun shot?" The doctor asked.

"That's us, how is she?" Jon asked, standing up.

"Well she's okay. She just got out of surgery. The bullet ruptured her appendix. She was lucky you found her when you did. She's in a room in the ICU right now," The doctor explained.

"Can we see her? We'd like to ask her some question about what happened," Ponch requested.

"Well, you can see her, but you won't get anything out of her she's still unconscious. She pry won't wake up for another couple hours. She's in room 224," The doctor said.

"You go ahead to the room I'm going to call Getraer and let him know what's going on, and that we'll pry be here for a while longer," Jon exclaimed, moving out of the room.

Ponch nodded his head, and moved down the hallway to the ICU, then to room 224. When he walked into the room and looked over at the bed he cringed. The girl looked like a ghost, there was an IV sticking out of her arm, and he noticed a few things he hadn't noticed before out on the highway. Like the fact that she looked like she hadn't eaten in a while, and that she had a large bruise running up her arm in the shape of a large hand. The sight of the bruise angered him beyond belief, and he couldn't help but wonder who could do something like this to a small child. Ponch sighed and sat down in the chair next to the bed. A few minutes later Jon walked into the room.

"What did Getraer say?" Ponch asked, glancing back at his partner.

"There hasn't been any reports of a missing child matching her description. Getraer's trying to get in touch with Social services but the lines been busy and he hasn't been able to get through," Jon replied.

"You're telling me no-ones missing her?" Ponch asked in disbelief.

Jon nodded his head, and sat down in the other chair on the other side of the hospital bed. Both glanced down at the small girl lying in the bed with sad expressions.

"I can't get over how pale she is," Ponch muttered, shaking his head.

"And how thin she looks," Jon added.

The two of them sighed and sat back in their chairs. Ponch and Jon sat there for several hours, occasionally getting up to use the bathroom or get something from the snack machine. After several hours the girl started to stir in the bed. Her eyes fluttered and both officers jumped out of their chairs.

"I'll get the doctor," Jon exclaimed, racing out of the room.

The girl let out a small groan, and reached up to rub her eye but stopped when the movement tugged at the IV in her arm. She opened her eyes and glanced down at the IV in confusion. Her eyes seemed slightly glazed over as she stared at the IV. Suddenly the door to the room opened and Jon and the Doctor rushed in. The girl jumped and glanced up at the two, her eyes going wide. Ponch had seen that look once before. It was the same look a deer he'd almost hit once when heading out on a camping trip had. The doctor walked over to the girl and she tried she shuffle back closer to the bed.

"Hey it's okay," Ponch exclaimed, bending down next to the bed so he was eye level with her.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, having just realized he was standing next to her. She glanced around at the three men around her, and she seemed to sink into the bed in an attempt to hide under the covers.

"I want to check her stitches but I don't think she's going to let me get near her, and I'm scared if we try she'll struggle and rip open her stitches," The doctor whispered to Jon. Jon nodded his head in understanding. Jon moved slowly over to Ponch, the little girl following his every move with her eyes, and knelt down next to his partner.

"Did you hear what the doctor said?" Jon whispered. Ponch nodded his head.

"Let me see if I can get her to calm down," Ponch whispered back. Ponch inched a little closer to the bed and gave the girl one of his famous smiles.

"Hey, the doctor wants to check your stitches. But in order to do that he's gonna have to come over here…" The girl's eyes got even wider if that was possible, and she sunk further into the bed shaking her head.

"Hey, no, no it's okay. None of us are going to hurt you, we just want to make sure you're okay," Ponch soothed. The girl seemed close to tears and her whole body seemed to be shaking.

"If you'd like I could hold your hand while the doctor checks your stitches, and if you get scared you can just squeeze my hand," Ponch suggested, holding out his hand and giving her another one of his famous smiles.

The girl glanced down at his hand for a second before hesitantly reaching out and taking his hand. Ponch couldn't help but noticed how small her hand was compared to his. Her hand fit in the palm of his hand. Ponch glanced back at the doctor and nodded his head. The doctor moved over to the bed and the girl squeezed Ponch's hand tightly, a small whimper escaping her mouth.

"It's all right," Ponch murmured, squeezing her hand back. The doctor quickly checked her stitches over then checked her vitals. Once he was done he grabbed Jon by the shoulder and pulled him to the side.

"Well she seems fine all things considered, the stitches are okay, and it doesn't look like the wound is infected. Though she is badly dehydrated, and it looks like she hasn't had much to eat in a few days," The doctor stated. Jon sighed, and glanced back over at the girl, who still had a tight grip on Ponch's hand.

"Is it okay to ask her a few questions now, or do you think we should wait?" Jon asked.

"You can try but with the way she's acting I don't think you're going to get much out of her," The doctor answered, shaking his head. Jon nodded his head and moved back to the bed while the doctor walked out of the room.

"What the doctor say?" Ponch asked.

"She's dehydrated and hasn't eaten in a while, but other than that she's fine," Jon replied.

"Did the doctor say it was okay to ask her a few questions?" Ponch asked. Jon nodded his head and glanced down at the girl. She still had a tight hold on Ponch's hand, but now she was looking down at her lap.

"Hey my names Jon, and this is my partner Ponch, what's your name?" Jon introduced, kneeling down next to Ponch. The girl glanced up at him for a second before leaning in close to Ponch, and hiding her face behind his arm. A small whimper escaped her mouth and tears formed in her eyes.

"Hey, no it's okay. Neither of us are going to hurt you," Ponch exclaimed, glancing down at her. She shook her head, and buried her face in Ponch's arm, squeezing his hand as tightly as possible. Both Jon and Ponch sighed, but Jon couldn't help but smile at the girl clutching Ponch's arm.

"Looks like she's taken a liking to you," Jon whispered. Ponch smiled slightly and shook his head.

"I guess so," He murmured.

Suddenly the door opened and Sgt. Getraer walked in. The girl glanced up at the new person in the room, and shrunk further into the bed, hiding her face completely behind Ponch's arm.

"Hey guys I talked to the doctor, have you managed to get anything from her?" Getraer asked.

"No she just keeps hiding behind Ponch," Jon answered.

Getraer looked down at Ponch's arm which was trapped in the little girl's grip. He could see a pair of baby blue eyes peeking out from behind Ponch's arm, but the second she saw he was looking at her she hid her face again. Getraer smiled slightly at the sight.

"Well I finally managed to get a hold of social services. The lady I talked to is pretty sure that she might be a foster kid but she said she has to check some of her files. She said she'll be here at the hospital in a couple hours," Getraer informed.

"If she's a foster kid than it's more than likely the person who shot her is her foster parent. And even if her foster parent isn't the one that shot her she still hasn't been feed in a couple of days, and I would like to know why said foster parent hasn't reported her missing yet," Ponch growled, rubbing his thumb over the girl's small hand. Getraer and Jon nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well you two get back out on the roads. I'll sit here with her till the lady from Social services gets here," Getraer ordered.

Ponch went to stand up but the girl grabbed hold of his arm with her other hand, whimpered, and attempted to tug him back down.

"Ugh Sarge I don't think I'm going to be able to go anywhere any time soon," Ponch exclaimed, glancing down at the girl clinging to his arm like a life line. Getraer and Jon both chuckled and shook their heads.

"All right Ponch you stay, call me when the lady from social services gets here," Getraer conceded. Jon and Getraer left and Ponch sat back down in his chair and smiled at the girl.

"So now that everyone else has left do you wanna tell me your name?" Ponch asked. The girl glanced up at him, her eyes wide and watery. But she didn't make a sound, she just stared up at him.

"All right then I guess I'll just have to guess your name," Ponch muttered.

For the next few minutes Ponch said different names but each time the girl just scrunched up her nose and shook her head slightly. At one point the girl's stomach growled loudly, and Ponch left to get her something to eat, but only after he managed to pry his arm away from her. Once he returned with a small thing of pudding the girl latched onto his arm again, and slowly started to eat…


End file.
